Under Your Wing
by myheartsegg
Summary: "You don't need to cry. Your wings will grow. I know it." His throat was constricted, felt too tight to get out any words, almost trying to suffocate the truth he knew was on his tongue. Right then, he made a resolution. He was going to get this chick out of the nest and into the air. But at what cost? Angsty AoKuro. Will occasionally update one-shots.
1. Take Flight

Another post I found on tumblr and had to write a short fic about. Oh god why am I doing this to myself D':

* * *

"Tetsu."

The blue haired avian looked up, a film of unshed tears glassing his eyes over.

"Please, don't-" Aomine choked on his words and his wings flared to life when he saw a single, strangled tear fall down his partner's cheek.

Instantly, he crouched down and tenderly hugged the smaller body to his chest.

"You don't need to cry. Your wings will grow. I know it."

His throat was constricted, felt too tight to get out any words, almost trying to suffocate the truth he knew was on his tongue.

There was no sniffle, no heart breaking sobs, no immediate _response_. Aomine knew before it happened that the only answer he would get was silence and a small nod.

Aomine slowly let go when he felt the wetness on his shirt dry, and sat down beside his partner, stretching his legs out in front of him.

It had already been well past his changing, but Tetsu's soft down was still lingering even after a month, making up the most of his small, soft wings that sprouted from his back.

Aomine brushed his fingers over the fluffy feathers and stretched his hand, measuring it to the length of a single wing. It was roughly about the same size. Aomine felt a pang of sadness.

Why?

_Why_, when he worked so hard, when he reached the furthest; dreamed the highest? Why was it that fate gave him these small wings, inhibiting to fly freely?

"Tets-" Aomine abruptly stilled when he felt small hands running over the tips of his flight feathers, slowly making their way under the coarse layer to tickle the down underneath.

"Aomine-kun's wings are so large. Look, even my arms can't reach to the end of it."

Tetsu reached out his arm, stretching it so far it looked painful. But still he couldn't touch the tip of Aomine's wingspan.

As if mocking him, Aomine's wings twitched involuntarily and spread out wide, lengthening to their full span. They were so large.

_And ugly._ Aomine thought with disgust. What the hell was he going to do with these hulking things? Hit someone with them? Ok, that would work, but what was the use of having them if they couldn't make the person he cared for most, fly?

Aomine clicked his tongue in annoyance at his frustration, grasping his partner's hand in his.

"Tetsu. I'll carry you as long as I need to, I promise. Until your flight feathers grow out, I'll be your wings."

The small boy looked up with large round eyes, seemingly startled. A warm smile spread across his face, breaking the gloom, though not penetrating deep enough to get the last of it, the tanned male noted.

There was still a flickering flame of sadness in those sky blue orbs, and Aomine was determined to extinguish it and set off a different kind of fire. He was set.

"Hai," came the almost monotone response.

Aomine smiled, ruffling Tetsu's hair fondly while bringing his wings around to encircle them and shut out the world.

"I promise you," he whispered, moving his hand to the back of Tetsu's head, gently going through the soft locks.

Using his other hand, he placed it on the small of Tetsu's back, in between the other's small wings, and pulled him in for a searing kiss, resolving to do whatever needed to be done for his friend to fly; even if it meant letting him go.

He was going to get this chick out of the nest and into the air.

* * *

A year before, when Kuroko had disappeared from their flock, the GOM had split up to look for something better; something _else_.

Only Aomine bothered to remember the small blue haired avian, but when he finally got to see his partner again, he knew that he wasn't his anymore.

One look at Tetsu's back and he knew he was better off without him. He heard, and hated the words said to the pale avian in front of him:

"I'll help you grow your wings!" The flaming redhead grinned confidently.

"And I will take you to see the world." The slim boy replied.

That was the exact promise said to him. To see the world, travel to every continent on the planet, stretching their wings to fly wherever their hearts pleased.

Betrayal stung his heart, while simultaneously burning his gut with guilt; wrenching him inside out. A sudden realization hit him and he knew.

_Growing his wings_. That was what Aomine failed to do. He did the one thing that stopped his partner from ever growing: _he carried him._

He didn't let him fly as he wanted, but kept him close, not letting him go, afraid to see him fall out of the air, away from his grasp and gone forever.

He didn't want Tetsu to fly away. But he already did.

Dropping to a dive, Aomine veered to the opposite direction of where he spotted the two avians of the Seirin flock. Regret was something that he never- _refused_- to accept.

A pained sigh escaped his lips. Looked like the chick really did fly out of the nest after all.

* * *

This is an AU where they live in a civilization where people have avian blood.

The society measures their worth with the** size of their wings** and their **flight performance**. The GOM have the largest wings ever recorded for their age (and somewhat above), and Akashi is the lead bird of their flock. He saw something in Tetsuya, and made special arrangements for Kuroko to be in their group. **A flock** can be however big, though the standard is usually made up of about **6-7 people** (GOM + Momoi).

The **changing** is when **wings start to grow** from out of your back. Usually, this will take about a week, and at times can be painful when the bones break the skin. After anywhere from a week to a month or so, their flight feathers should start to grow and fully form. The **size of the wings** depend on your **talent** instead of things like genes.

**All wings are white** in colour when the avians are young. When they grow into adulthood, their wings will start to take on the colours of either the mom or dad, or a mixture of both.


	2. Sprouting Wings

I made something to ease the pain of the previous chapter. I just don't know why, but the idea of a writhing Kuroko in pain gets me going~ :3

* * *

Seeing his old partner again had reminded Aomine of his past, bringing back memories of both good times and bad.

He even remembered when Tetsu's wings first came out and he had just started the changing. Aomine couldn't even remember _his own_ clearly; just hazy pictures and impressions of the pain.

It was weird when he thought about it, how he knew his partner better than he knew himself. He knew the day when his changing began, when it ended, when his down formed, when they had started to shed. Even when his flight feathers had come out. Aomine could name them all.

He remembered when he vowed to help Kuroko leave the nest and take flight. But when he had promised, his wings were too large- _still_ too large. It was already too late for them. Aomine was already past the point of helping Kuroko.

If he went back further, he supposed it was after Tetsu's changing that he was never the same. It put a rift between them, a constant reminder that they were _different_.

Back then, Aomine's wings were only average sized. They reached just past his fingertips when he stretched them to their full span.

_I forgot how to be average, _the tanned teen noted sadly, briefly coming out of his stash of memories. _At least when I was average, I had fun pushing things to the limit. _

Now that his wings were the same size, if not larger than those in the Generation of Miracles, there was no challenge, no exhilarating rush when he flew in competition.

He didn't want to think about this right now. There was nothing worse than suddenly remembering the distance between them. It really _had _started all that day.

* * *

It was sunny and warm, a small inviting breeze urging the tanned teen to fly away on it's back. But he couldn't leave. Not without Tetsu.

Instead, Aomine had managed to convince (a-not-so-pleased) Kuroko to skip classes with him in an offer to take a nap on the roof of the school.

It wasn't like anyone was going to look for a trouble maker and a ghost anyway.

Aomine's wings were carefully folded under him while he lay on his back, Tetsu sleeping on his chest. They lounged in the sunlight, one sleeping without a sound, the other snoring like a bear in hibernation.

Occasionally, Tetsu would move around (that was how he always ended up with his insane bedhead), and Aomine would have to wake from his slumber to re-position him into a more comfortable spot on his chest, or prevent him from falling off his front completely.

They often enough slept like this that Aomine knew his sleeping patterns.

So it came as unusual when Tetsu began to twitch in his sleep and frown with his eyebrows knit together.

Sometimes, he would get up periodically, moving his shoulders, neck and arms in weird positions, trying to relieve the mounting pain.

At first, Aomine had thought it was a small nightmare and he would have to comfort the pale avian when he woke up. But the twitches got worse, becoming borderline violent.

Soon the uncomfortable sensation grew unbearably, and Tetsu began to let out small keens of discomfort in his sleep.

Now Aomine started to worry.

His partner tried to stay still, but he was panting hard, his face pale and sweaty. His body shuddered from sudden crashing waves of pain, and he would cry out. Softly to anyone else, but harshly in Daiki's ears.

The slim boy let out a moan, and Aomine got up from where he sat cradling the smaller avian. He was ready to bring him to the infirmary in a moment's breadth.

Tetsu looked up at him with pleading eyes to _make the pain go away_, and Aomine froze, unsure what he could do.

Small, shaking hands reached up to him, not allowing him to move anywhere but back to the boy's side.

Scared powder blue eyes locked with his before Tetsu's body shivered and he heard a quickly muttered, _Sorry_, right before he bit into Aomine's shoulder and screamed.

Aomine sat shocked, his royal blue pupils dilating and contracting at the pain that shot up his neck. Panic started to mount in his stomach, but he forced himself to relax under the crushing grip of his partner's teeth.

Tetsu bit harder into his left shoulder and trembled whenever a scream tore at his throat. He could hear small whimpers and breaths of _I'm sorry_, in between them, making his heart squeeze painfully.

Aomine grit his teeth and let Tetsu's pain seep into him, trying to absorb whatever he was feeling and take away the majority of the agony he heard in his partner's voice.

"Testu, shit-"

The avian screamed high and piercing in Aomine's ear when a sickening rip filled the air.

Kuroko collapsed on top of him, a writhing mass of pale skin and powder blue hair dyed red with blood.

Shit, his changing had just begun.

Knowing no other action to take other than from the experience of his own changing, Aomine worked quickly and ripped the smaller boy's shirt off, covering the area of the wound, being careful to avoid the small white bones protruding from Tetsu's back.

Picking him up as best he could, Aomine half flew-half ran through the school building to the infirmary and almost kicked down the door while trying to open it.

The startled nurse tended to the unconscious Kuroko, telling the tanned teen that the worst of it was over, and his friend just needed a few bandages to staunch the blood and a bit of time to repair the broken skin on his back.

When she looked up and saw the bite marks on Daiki's skin, she grinned with a mouth full of teeth and congratulated him, telling him he was one hell of a friend to be able to hold out on the pain of someone going through the changing.

Usually, the small squeeze toys that the nurses and hospitals gave out to people going through the changing pains were crushed, broken or burst from the force of the patient's grip.

She explained all this to him while she disinfected his shoulder, and he thanked her before running off to find Akashi; sure he broke half of the school's rules and regulations as he did so.

When the red-haired flock leader wasn't in the shogi room as per usual, he gave up and sprinted back the way he came, heading to the nurse's office.

What he found when he opened the door was Tetsu sitting up and awake. Sans nurse.

"Aomine-kun," the avian started.

The tanned teen shook his head to silence him while he walked over to his bedside and plopped down on the seat waiting for him there.

"Shit Tetsu, scared me, going through the changing suddenly like that," he murmured.

Kuroko kept an impassive face while hooking his hand to cup the back of Aomine's neck, bringing him in closer.

Using a trembling hand, he pulled Aomine's collar to the side to see the red indents of his teeth marking the dark skin. Instinctively, Aomine stretched his neck to the other side, letting the smaller of the two inspect the damage he inflicted.

Running a finger over the marks, Kuroko whispered, "Sorry, did it hurt?"

"Like hell, but s'worth it. Hell, it was better than seeing you in pain and not being able to do anything about it."

Kuroko's eyes flicked up to his, and in that instant, Aomine had read all the unsaid words behind them.

_I wouldn't be here if you didn't carry me. _

_You're the reason I was able to make it through the changing. _

_Thank you._

Aomine smiled and hummed softly in return, delighted with those few thoughts. He felt a tug on his good shoulder, and he licked his lips in anticipation, feeling their lips connect.

Through them, he tried to send his own message.

_S'worth it._


	3. Avigation Games

I'm posting this as a really small blurb about the Avigation games since the rules are long.

* * *

Avigation Games Outline

**Competition Names**: Players that are famous among the arena and are well known by the people watching the games will be given a name corresponding to their flight performance (tricks, habits, behaviour, etc). The owner of the name may change it to their preference, though it will have to be publicly announced for it to be considered legitimate.

**Kuroko** - Butterfly Wings (Preferred: Phantom)

**Aomine** - Streak Chaser

**Kise** - Archetype

**Midorima** - Pitch Shot

**Murasakibara** - Fortress

**Akashi** - Emperor

* * *

**Rules**

The Avigation Games consist of four optional parts:

1) Group Flight Performance

2) Partner Flight Performance

3) Solo Flight Performance

4) Flight of the Early Bird

Flight of the Early Bird is the Main Event that is usually placed at the end of the Avigation Games. It is an extremely hard game to play to those that are inexperienced, and has complex rules. There are four quarters. Each is about 8 minutes long, depending (Like high school basketball). Each team gets three time outs and six players on at a given time.

Each of those players has a silver pin placed at the end of a sash that is tied to their waist. If that silver pin is taken off of them, they cannot participate in the rest of the quarter.

Each team gets to use one of their players as the 'Honey pot'. The honey pot will have a silver pin just like the rest of the team, but will have stripes of honey painted on their face. The function of the honey pot is to lure in the golden bug. The golden bug is the main goal of the Early Bird (Was thinking a bit of Quidditch here...).

If you manage to trap that and get it through the opposing team's net, you score a point. You can pass the bug, steal it, and generally wrestle for the possession of it. Most teams aim to protect the honey pot from getting their pin taken, as they are often more stationary to allow the golden bug to come to them.

The GOM are different however, and aim to get all the opponents out for the quarter while they leave Kuroko to his own devices. Often, his weird flying and low presence is enough and they do not need to assist him. Though when he is running low on steam, one of them will get a pass off and rush to the goal.

Occasionally, the school requests that the GOM participate in all four parts of the Avigation Games to show off to the newcomers/first years or for competitions.


	4. Open Air

"Tetsu!"

The avian paused what he was doing and looked up at the sound of his name. When he saw nothing in front of him, he tilted his head up and into the skies. He was met with a multitude of colours, all of them - Kuroko had made sure to check an art book - corresponded with the colours of the rainbow.

"Hai?" The blue haired boy asked hesitantly at the group, pausing in putting his shoes on.

"Are you ready?" Aomine's voice floated down to him from where he hovered, a large grin on his face.

"I am having a tough time with the costume." Kuroko responded, trying again to pull on the ridiculous costume the school had supplied them in order to fit the theme of 'Freedom'.

The so called 'costume' was all white, and consisted of thin cloth shoes, loose pants that had swirling patterns of wind on them and an almost see-through long sleeved shirt that was open backed and had tons of ribbons meant to crisscross over each other to hold the piece of cloth together.

The Generation of Miracles lighted down and stood behind the tanned teen.

Midorima scowled. He was a stickler when it came to punctuality. "Hurry up, nanodayo. The program will start in less than half an hour. We do not want to be late."

"Daiki, help Tetsuya get his costume on. If we are not there on time it will reflect badly on us." The red haired captain ordered, making the other avians jump at the tone. It was borderline irritated.

"Okay, okay! Tetsu, turn around!" The tanned male placed heavy hands on the smaller's shoulders and spun him around, grabbing the flimsy material and shoving it over Kuroko's head, making sure to lace up the back of the shirt.

"I don't like this. You can see through the shirt." Kuroko said in his usual deadpan manner as he fingered the cloth.

"Never mind that, it's not like anyone sees you anyway." Aomine retorted.

Kuroko paused. It was true. But then again, many eyes would see him in the Flight of the Early Bird. He was the 'Honey Pot' after all.

Kuroko sighed in submission. There was no way he could get out of this competition. It was requested by the school that the GOM participate in the school's annual opening round for the spring festival. It was always during this time that they wanted to impress the new comers and coerce them into transferring into this school after finishing elementary.

Akashi, as always, had agreed when he figured it would do them good to spread their name, even after having won the championship Avigation Games twice consecutively. This year, the winter Championship Avigation Games would be their last time before heading out to high school.

Kuroko sighed again and looked down at his costume before stepping out of the shade of the large oak he was dressing under. He watched as Akashi nodded in satisfaction and took off towards the school's specialized arena, the rest of the group except Aomine follwing.

Teiko Gakuen was a large school that focused on the special flying abilities of individuals and therefore had large faculties that contributed to training the best flyers. The school made a name for themselves by getting into the championship finals every year before winning it twice with the Generation of Miracles.

Kuroko was actually lucky he had even managed to make it in. Only those that had amazing potential were accepted here. He had close to none.

Aomine glanced towards Kuroko, managing to catch the downcast eyes looking over his shoulder at the small wings that sprouted in between his shoulder blades.

"Tetsu," Aomine called out. Grabbing his friend's attention, he leaned in and gave a small peck on the avain's lips.

"I promised didn't I? That I would be there for you."

The other looked at him with passive blue eyes, slowly reaching up and winding his arms around Aomine's neck. Pulling him down so that they were at eye level, the bluenette unleashed a small smile that had Aomine's stomach reeling with butterflies and twisted into painful knots.

"Damn, Tetsu. No wonder you're called Butterfly Wings. I feel like I just got slapped with one." He muttered.

The pale teen's smile quickly turned into a half-smirk and he tilted his body towards his friend's before lightly trailing his lips against the smooth skin of Aomine's neck, relishing the shiver that ran down the other's body.

"Please call me the Phantom, Aomine-kun," Kuroko shot back. "I dislike being called something so girly sounding."

Aomine gave him an interested grin. "What's wrong with being a little girly? Satsuki's a girl and she's got a dozen titles."

"You mean like Cherry Twister, or sometimes even Love Arrow? I find those titles are not suited to Momoi-san."

"No, I mean the cool ones like Analyst or Spy Heart... Whatever those mean."

Kuroko hummed in response and closed his eyes, savoring the few and in between moments when he could act like this without restraint. He never had to remain impassive. He could say what he needed to, and he wouldn't be judged as out of character.

"Tetsu."

Kuroko's eyes fluttered open and he looked up to Aomine's face.

"We gotta go now. Akashi's going to kill us you know? We only have a few minutes left. Damn, if we fly at your pace, we're not gonna make it for the opening performance."

"Then carry me."

"Huh?"

"On that day, you promised you would carry me, right?"

Aomine's eyes widened at the memory and a grin split suddenly on his face. He gathered the smaller avian into his arms and pushed off the ground, his large wings beating in large pulses to create a downward draft to push them upwards.

Stretching his wings to their full span, he raced through the open air towards the stadium's arena. Chucking, Aomine whispered his response.

"Yeah, I did."


End file.
